My pigeons dont fly for long, Why ?

[Guest nikkimass35]

Hi i am after some advice please, I have been keeping pigeons for a long while now, but they never seem to fly for long about 5 or 10 minutes round the house. I have had some good pigeons which have won at club and fed level, one of the cocks would sit on the roof all day but as soon as he went to a race he come like a rocket winning 8 1st clubs, 2nd fed and 1st sections in fed , and i had 1 hen she didnt leave the loft for 3 weeks and she won the fed form messac. I have had pigeons go missing when letting them out and never seen them again, and i always see a sparrow hawk, could this be the reason they are not flying. Would it be better just to train the pigeons and when they get home get them in. My friend who also keeps pigeons lives round the corner and his birds fly for hours. My birds are healthy, but they have been locked up all year, is it because they are not fit. I just dont know ? I dont race the 2 pigeons that topped the fed anymore. This message is really about my yearlings they just dont want to fly

[demolition man]

why worry if your winning the fed

[Guest nikkimass35]

I dont race the 2 good pigeons any more. Ive got mainly yearlings but they dont want to fly

[demolition man]

Problem not fit cut the food ;)

[Guest vander mungo]

havent said what system your using but if you go on a roundabout system,youll soon get them going

[Guest nikkimass35]

I did think that but they are all on small youngsters. Even as youngsters they never ranged of flew well and its been like that for years

[Guest nikkimass35]

I fly natural

[Mealy Cock]

Easy way to answer your questions is, keep the birds in till evening and see how they fly, don't over feed, regular times if possible x2

when letting out, myself I added 50% barley to their feed till two days before they are basketed.

 

Hope this helps

[Guest nikkimass35]

Thanks mealy will try that

[Guest Owen]

If your pigeons are paired up they will have family matters and sex on their minds all of which are centered on the loft. And if they have been inside for a long time they may not be fit and do not feel like working at exercise. And if you have not checked their droppings and swabs they may have problems with their health and don't have the energy to fly freely. And you may be feeding heavy food which tends to make them slugish and inclined to want to sit about. Finally, if you have fit birds that are happy at home they will want to get back quick if you take them away somewhere. This could be a part of the reason for there ability to win races. Add to that, the fact that your birds may be bred from excelent racers, then they will have the genes required to succeed.

There are lot of ifs and buts in this. But if you want to change things you will need to work through the possiblities and eliminate them. Sometimes, the birds have been allowed to sit on roofs and buildings from a young age, which will have got them into bad habits. This problem can be difficult to sort out, but there are ways to do even that.

[paullock]

Hi there,

 

Ive had the same problem myself, some days they fly well, other days they doo my headin, ive been racing pigeons for five years and its only now ive started to cut the feed back to see if this will help as I feed quite rich most of the time, never done any good inland but as soon as the races over the channel arrive they perform better, I fly in a very competative club so its difficult to win for the best of them, cutting the feed back also brings the birds closer to you as the manager I feel as the one or two in the loft that would usually tend to hang back will try anything for a peanut or two and for me its all about the interaction with your teams.

 

The older fanciers always refer to the feeding being the key along with health etc. Ive also started to use more Barley, what do you think?

 

Paul.

[Guest nikkimass35]

Thank you all for your replies. At the moment i know im feeding them to much they always have food in a pot next to their nest bowl and i always feed them in a feeder i always do this when they are on youngsters. but when i take youngsters away in a couple of weeks i will cut there food down. I have noticed i have 2 cocks father and son. The father winning 3rd club and 20th fed from saints last year. But everytime they fly and land you would think they have flown for hours they wings drop. The father cock did this all last year after every training toss and every race and when he was 3rd club 420 miles he was fine but he did have peanuts for the very 1st time before he went. Someone said to me change there food it aint got enough energy could this be rightg

[paul10121968]

Hi i am after some advice please, I have been keeping pigeons for a long while now, but they never seem to fly for long about 5 or 10 minutes round the house. I have had some good pigeons which have won at club and fed level, one of the cocks would sit on the roof all day but as soon as he went to a race he come like a rocket winning 8 1st clubs, 2nd fed and 1st sections in fed , and i had 1 hen she didnt leave the loft for 3 weeks and she won the fed form messac. I have had pigeons go missing when letting them out and never seen them again, and i always see a sparrow hawk, could this be the reason they are not flying. Would it be better just to train the pigeons and when they get home get them in. My friend who also keeps pigeons lives round the corner and his birds fly for hours. My birds are healthy, but they have been locked up all year, is it because they are not fit. I just dont know ? I dont race the 2 pigeons that topped the fed anymore. This message is really about my yearlings they just dont want to fly

 

don,t worry,they have probably got other things on their mind with it being springtime.some days mine will exercise for nearly 2 hours other days they will exercise for 10 mins and thats it.personally i dont think you have anything to worry about.enjoy them.paul

[lawrie]

do they sit around the loft or are they flying?

[Guest Freebird]

Sometimes it can be only one or two birds that are bringing the rest down. Try and find out what birds start to come down first and get them in the hand to see if they are overweight or have any other probs. As said before the birds also have other things on their minds but there should be days when they fly longer. If they are all healthy then it will more than likely be down to over feeding and as you say once the youngsters are separated you can get them on a regular, controled diet. Good luck.